Why the study?
Do statins reduce the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation in patients with AF?
Do statins reduce the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation in patients with AF?
While overall pooled data showed no significant benefit, randomized controlled trials suggest statins may reduce atrial fibrillation recurrence after catheter ablation, highlighting a discrepancy with observational data.
Statins should not routinely be used to prevent post-ablation AF recurrence; leaves open benefit suggested by RCTs.
Background To more precisely evaluate the effect of statins on patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after catheter ablation, we performed a meta‐analysis of published studies. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for all relevant published articles from the date of inception to April 2017. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were then calculated and pooled using a random‐effects model. Statistical heterogeneity was evaluated using the I 2 statistic. Results Nine studies with a total of 1,607 patients were included in the analysis. Overall, statins did not reduce the recurrence rate of AF after catheter ablation (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.59–1.10, P = 0.18). However, in the subgroup analysis, the randomized control trial (RCT) group significantly reduced the recurrence of AF (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.30–0.75, P = 0.001). Conversely, the retrospective cohort study subgroup also had a negative result (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.78–1.36, P = 0.82). Conclusions Statin use was associated with a significantly lower AF recurrence rate in RCTs but not in the whole analysis and the observational studies.
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Peng et al. (2018) studied this question.
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